Fragrant Concubine
Encyclopedia
The Fragrant Concubine is a figure in Chinese legend
who was taken as a consort
by the Qianlong Emperor
during the 18th century. Although the stories about her are believed to be mythical, they may have been based on an actual concubine from western China who entered the harem
of the emperor in 1760 and who carried the court title of Rong Fei. Some people insist, however, that Imperial Consort Rong (whose original name may have been Maimur Azum) and Imperial Consort Xiang were different women. Han Chinese
and Uyghur
tellings of the legend of the Fragrant Concubine diverge greatly, and her experience represents a powerful symbol for both peoples. The story became greatly popular during the early 20th century and has since been adapted into several plays, films, and books.
Although accounts vary as to some details, the basic story amongst Han Chinese
recounts the discovery by the Qianlong Emperor
of an Uyghur
girl named Iparhan, granddaughter of Apak Khoja
, a local leader in the oasis
city of Kashgar
. Even more remarkable than her beauty was the scent her body naturally produced; captivated, the Emperor sought her as an Imperial Consort for his harem
. She was given as a gift to the Emperor and carefully escorted all the way to Beijing
, washing every day along the road in camel
's milk to preserve her mysterious fragrance.
Upon her arrival to the imperial palace, the Fragrant Concubine, was gifted with a garden and a luxurious room of her own as a sign of the Emperor's devotion. Homesick and distraught, she remained disconsolate as the Emperor made ever-increasing efforts to recreate her distant village, building her a mosque
, miniature oasis, and bazaar
outside her windows in an effort to bring her happiness. Finally she relented and came to love him when he sent messengers to Kashgar to return with an jujube
tree bearing golden fruit, and the Fragrant Concubine became the emperor's cherished consort until her death. An enduring symbol of national unity and reconciliation, her body was brought back to her home of Kashgar, where she is now entomb
ed, in a procession of 120 bearers in a journey that took over three years.
renditions of the legend are considerably less romantic
. Stolen from her husband, a Muslim leader who had resisted the army of the Qing, and spirited away to Beijing
, Iparhan arms herself with daggers up her sleeves, on guard against the hated advances of the Emperor. Some accounts cast her even more explicitly as a nationalist resistance figure who had risen during Uch Turpan Rebellion (1765) as one of the national leaders but was soon captured by Qing troops and delivered to Emperor. It was suggested that in addition to maintaining her purity Iparhan planned to kill the Emperor in revenge for his conquest of her homeland in Xinjiang
. The Emperor, besotted, cannot resist the allure of her beauty, and in the end his mother the Empress Dowager
arranges for her murder at the hands of loyal palace eunuchs in the face of Iparhan's unyielding resistance and the threat posed to her son.
(mazar) located outside Kashgar was built in 1640 and, in addition to encompassing a larger complex that includes a functioning mosque
and Qur'an
ic school, houses the coffins of five generations of the Apak Khoja family
, including what is purported to be the body of the Fragrant Concubine. In fact, the real Rong Fei died of illness in 1788 and was buried in a royal tomb in Beijing
; the legend of the Fragrant Concubine first became closely associated with the Kashgar tomb in the late 19th century, and the connection has since been officially established and endorsed through a proliferation of signs and guided tours. Critical Western academic observers have noted that the superimposition of the Fragrant Concubine myth on the preexisting tomb has effectively commercialized
and trivialized what was once a major functioning Sufi shrine through the influx of tourism
.
Chinese mythology
Chinese mythology is a collection of cultural history, folktales, and religions that have been passed down in oral or written tradition. These include creation myths and legends and myths concerning the founding of Chinese culture and the Chinese state...
who was taken as a consort
Queen consort
A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...
by the Qianlong Emperor
Qianlong Emperor
The Qianlong Emperor was the sixth emperor of the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty, and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. The fourth son of the Yongzheng Emperor, he reigned officially from 11 October 1735 to 8 February 1796...
during the 18th century. Although the stories about her are believed to be mythical, they may have been based on an actual concubine from western China who entered the harem
Harem
Harem refers to the sphere of women in what is usually a polygynous household and their enclosed quarters which are forbidden to men...
of the emperor in 1760 and who carried the court title of Rong Fei. Some people insist, however, that Imperial Consort Rong (whose original name may have been Maimur Azum) and Imperial Consort Xiang were different women. Han Chinese
Han Chinese
Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
and Uyghur
Uyghur people
The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...
tellings of the legend of the Fragrant Concubine diverge greatly, and her experience represents a powerful symbol for both peoples. The story became greatly popular during the early 20th century and has since been adapted into several plays, films, and books.
The Legend of the Fragrant Concubine
Han Chinese
Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
recounts the discovery by the Qianlong Emperor
Qianlong Emperor
The Qianlong Emperor was the sixth emperor of the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty, and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. The fourth son of the Yongzheng Emperor, he reigned officially from 11 October 1735 to 8 February 1796...
of an Uyghur
Uyghur people
The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...
girl named Iparhan, granddaughter of Apak Khoja
Abakh Khoja
Abakh Khoja , born Hidayat al-Lah, a.k.a Apaq Xoja, or more properly Āfāq Khwāja was a religious and political leader with the title of Khoja in Kashgaria...
, a local leader in the oasis
Oasis
In geography, an oasis or cienega is an isolated area of vegetation in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source...
city of Kashgar
Kashgar
Kashgar or Kashi is an oasis city with approximately 350,000 residents in the western part of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Kashgar is the administrative centre of Kashgar Prefecture which has an area of 162,000 km² and a population of approximately...
. Even more remarkable than her beauty was the scent her body naturally produced; captivated, the Emperor sought her as an Imperial Consort for his harem
Harem
Harem refers to the sphere of women in what is usually a polygynous household and their enclosed quarters which are forbidden to men...
. She was given as a gift to the Emperor and carefully escorted all the way to Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, washing every day along the road in camel
Camel
A camel is an even-toed ungulate within the genus Camelus, bearing distinctive fatty deposits known as humps on its back. There are two species of camels: the dromedary or Arabian camel has a single hump, and the bactrian has two humps. Dromedaries are native to the dry desert areas of West Asia,...
's milk to preserve her mysterious fragrance.
Upon her arrival to the imperial palace, the Fragrant Concubine, was gifted with a garden and a luxurious room of her own as a sign of the Emperor's devotion. Homesick and distraught, she remained disconsolate as the Emperor made ever-increasing efforts to recreate her distant village, building her a mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
, miniature oasis, and bazaar
Bazaar
A bazaar , Cypriot Greek: pantopoula) is a permanent merchandising area, marketplace, or street of shops where goods and services are exchanged or sold. The term is sometimes also used to refer to the "network of merchants, bankers and craftsmen" who work that area...
outside her windows in an effort to bring her happiness. Finally she relented and came to love him when he sent messengers to Kashgar to return with an jujube
Jujube
Ziziphus zizyphus , commonly called jujube , red date, Chinese date, Korean date, or Indian date is a species of Ziziphus in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae, used primarily as a fruiting shade tree.-Distribution:Its precise natural distribution is uncertain due to extensive cultivation,...
tree bearing golden fruit, and the Fragrant Concubine became the emperor's cherished consort until her death. An enduring symbol of national unity and reconciliation, her body was brought back to her home of Kashgar, where she is now entomb
Tomb
A tomb is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes...
ed, in a procession of 120 bearers in a journey that took over three years.
The Legend of Iparhan
Contemporary UyghurUyghur people
The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...
renditions of the legend are considerably less romantic
Romantic love
Romance is the pleasurable feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love.In the context of romantic love relationships, romance usually implies an expression of one's love, or one's deep emotional desires to connect with another person....
. Stolen from her husband, a Muslim leader who had resisted the army of the Qing, and spirited away to Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, Iparhan arms herself with daggers up her sleeves, on guard against the hated advances of the Emperor. Some accounts cast her even more explicitly as a nationalist resistance figure who had risen during Uch Turpan Rebellion (1765) as one of the national leaders but was soon captured by Qing troops and delivered to Emperor. It was suggested that in addition to maintaining her purity Iparhan planned to kill the Emperor in revenge for his conquest of her homeland in Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
. The Emperor, besotted, cannot resist the allure of her beauty, and in the end his mother the Empress Dowager
Empress Dowager
Empress Dowager was the title given to the mother of a Chinese, Korean, Japanese or Vietnamese emperor.The title was also given occasionally to another woman of the same generation, while a woman from the previous generation was sometimes given the title of Grand empress dowager. Numerous empress...
arranges for her murder at the hands of loyal palace eunuchs in the face of Iparhan's unyielding resistance and the threat posed to her son.
Apak Khoja and Xiang Fei Tomb
The Afaq Khoja MausoleumAfaq Khoja Mausoleum
The Afāq Khoja Mausoleum or Aba Khoja Mausoleum is the holiest Muslim site in Xinjiang. It is locatedsome 5 km north-east from the centre of Kashgar City, in Haohan Village , which has also been known as Yaghdu....
(mazar) located outside Kashgar was built in 1640 and, in addition to encompassing a larger complex that includes a functioning mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
and Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
ic school, houses the coffins of five generations of the Apak Khoja family
Ak Tagh
Aq Tagh, literally "White Mountain" in Chagatai Turki, was a faction of Turkestani Naqshbandi Sufism originated in Samarkand. During the Chagatai Yarkand Khanate in modern day Xinjiang, two Naqshbandi factions, the Aq Tagh and the Qara Tagh vied for popularity and political power by allying with...
, including what is purported to be the body of the Fragrant Concubine. In fact, the real Rong Fei died of illness in 1788 and was buried in a royal tomb in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
; the legend of the Fragrant Concubine first became closely associated with the Kashgar tomb in the late 19th century, and the connection has since been officially established and endorsed through a proliferation of signs and guided tours. Critical Western academic observers have noted that the superimposition of the Fragrant Concubine myth on the preexisting tomb has effectively commercialized
Commerce
While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...
and trivialized what was once a major functioning Sufi shrine through the influx of tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
.
In fiction
- The character of Princess Fragrance in Louis Cha's WuxiaWuxiaWuxia is a broad genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists. Although wuxia is traditionally a form of literature, its popularity has caused it to spread to diverse art forms like Chinese opera, manhua , films, television series, and video games...
novel The Book and the SwordThe Book and the SwordThe Book and the Sword is the debut wuxia novel by Jin Yong. It was first serialized between February 8, 1955 and September 5, 1956 in The New Evening Post in Hong Kong....
is loosely based on the Fragrant Concubine.
- The concubine also appeared as the character Han Xiang in the TV series Princess PearlPrincess PearlPrincess Pearl, also known in Singapore and the Philippines as My Fair Princess, is a television series adapted from Chiung Yao's novel series of the same title. Produced by Hunan TV, the series centres around the legend of Princess Huanzhu during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty...
, based on the novel with the same title authored by Qiong Yao.